Listen… somebody went through a lot of trouble to solicit this as a brand new issue so I’m calling it The Mighty Skullkickers #1 instead of Skullkickers #21 which is what it actually is. That’s right the funniest comic book on the market returns with part three and the third number one issue of “Eighty Eyes on an Evil Island.” Also did you know that you can sample Skullkickers for free on Keenspot? I’m supposed to tell friends according to the inside cover and since you’re reading this I consider you a friend. Check it out is all I’m saying, now on with the review.
Baldy or whatever the fuck his name is, in the pool of reflection about to get snuffed out by… himself! At the last possible moment he dodges the blast and the two Baldy’s begin shooting at each other. After some dialog is exchanged and some decent gun play, one of them wins. I can only assume that it was the proper Baldy because they didn’t pull a Street Fighter and slightly darken the clothes on one of them. The outcome of the fight is that Baldy has double guns baby!
Baldy walks out of the cave and is greeted as a new ape. He tells Kusia that it’s her turn to go, but the leader ape says she doesn’t have to because she’s an elf. Afterwards the apes celebrate and Rex gets them worked up and trusting him so that he can convince them to help them kill the Thool on the island. He gives a great speech and the apes agree to join him.
The next morning the Dwarf lands ashore and pukes out the contents of his stomach which are quite colorful. He smells Dwarven Ale somehow and begins heading in the direction of the Ale. Meanwhile Rex and the Apes make their way to the Curse Place where they are forbidden to go. As the ape leader narrates the dangers waiting for them we see the Dwarf rushing through each trap and surviving due to his new undead status.
Not a lot happened in this issue. It just kind of hung out and made jokes with a ton of visual gags, but the overall plot didn’t move forward. It felt like reaching the end of a board game and waiting for the right die roll to get to the finish which will be the next issue. Even still, I enjoyed the hell out of this issue. Missing is the creative set up and multiple panel splits of the first issue in the storyline, but this one had several funny or cool moments of its own. Rex has double magical awesome guns now it’s like the perfect cheat in the system or a memory card glitch that allows you to keep an item after selling it.
The Dwarf scares me… he looked really jacked up in this issue with his glowing red eyes and greyish skin, but I still enjoyed the art. It’s amazing how great this series looks and it’s definitely a reason for me to come back to it month after month. Also the art reference at the end was awesome! It’s very cool to see that Huang really only needs a model and isn’t gender specific like other artists are. It’s cool stuff to check out if you skipped over it.
I really have a strong new appreciation for this series and absolutely love the continuing usage of brand new #1 issues for each chapter. In case you’re tired of it, it’s continuing after this arc for at least another issue so get used to it. I would like some assurance that the series is continuing and it doesn’t need to be numbering, but currently the series doesn’t solicit past June and I’m really anxious to continue with what’s become one of my favorite series of the year. In order to do that though, everyone else has to buy two copies each… GET ON IT!
Score: 4/5
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Edwin Huang
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.50
Release Date: 4/24/13